Life Sciences Commons^™

The Neuroscience Of Creativity (Structure And Emotion), Michael Kihanya

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The cadenza represents musical freedom, creativity, improvisation. A structure is provided but does not place rigid boundaries on the artist. In literature studying creativity it is defined as the generation of novel, useful ideas. Musical improvisation is a form of creativity in a musical context. It requires the real-time generation and evaluation of melody and rhythm. It is one of our most complex cognitive tasks. Studying this task neuroscientifically is no less complicated. How is it we measure the result of musical improvisation, musical creation, the making of something new? What happens in our brain during? After? How does musical …

On Research Ethics: A Proposal For An Undergraduate Ethics Course Using A Graduate Research Ethics Course As A Baseline, Jordan Sawyer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In the biology department at Western Washington University, there has been a lack of research ethics courses that students can take, with one of the first being taught in Spring Quarter of 2023. This paper goes through the co-development process of making a graduate-student level ethics course, using Responsible Conduct of Research as a guideline, as well as the schedule for the course. In addition, the paper offers a proposal on how the course could be altered to fit an undergraduate student audience, with the goal of accessibility in mind.

The Foreign Earth: An Exercise In Speculative Biology, Aidyn Ruf

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Speculative Biology is the practice of examining hypothetical scenarios about the potential evolution of life. This project explores one such perspective timeline, utilizing scientific illustration, scientific information, and creative writing to estimate what the organisms of Earth might look like 250 million years into the future. Basic parameters were established, examining our current knowledge about geology and the environment to determine how the Earth itself might look. This included examining factors such as tectonic movement, adjusted ocean currents, and planetary heat cycles. Then, I studied mass extinctions and the animals which survived them, creating a baseline of ancestors the future …

The Joy Of Cooking With Ots: A Visual Guide, Sarah Baker

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Access to the full guide found here: https://mixam.com/share/60bf9e1ed250502f2e67534e

Occupational therapy (OT) is an allied healthcare profession that is uniquely situated at the intersection of art and science. OT seeks to improve quality of life by addressing occupations, or daily activities that are meaningful and purposeful (Nelson, 2014). In order to accomplish these goals, occupational therapists (OTs) must use design thinking through the lens of evidence-based practice. This artistic creativity paired with well-researched scientific findings mimics the visual nature of this guide, which prioritizes this need for alternative representation of the sciences.

This visual guide focuses on the interconnectivity of culture, …

Catcher And The Fry: Ecology, Power, And My Life With Salmon, Olivia Mueller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Pacific salmon serve a unique role in their ecosystem as network connectors. From transferring nutrients from the aquatic environment to terrestrial habitats, to subverting trophic hierarchies by nourishing the roots of trees and the bellies of orcas, salmon manage to fulfill an interesting role in connecting networks of biological communities. This connecting nature of pacific salmon is mirrored in the role they play as human community connectors, as is reflected in their part in food and land justice issues in the Pacific Northwest. I will explore the role of salmon in preserving Indigenous people against the imposed hegemony of settler …

Structure Of Blood Coagulation Factor Viii In Complex With Anti-C2 Domain Inhibitory Antibody, Estelle K. Ronayne, Shaun C. Peters, Joseph Gish, Celena Wilson, H. Trent Spencer, Christopher B. Doering, Pete Lollar, P. Clint Spiegel Jr., Kenneth C. Childers

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Factor VIII (fVIII) is a procoagulant protein that binds to activated factor IX (fIXa) on platelet surfaces to form the intrinsic tenase complex. Due to the high immunogenicity of fVIII, generation of antibody inhibitors is a common occurrence in patients during hemophilia A treatment and spontaneously occurs in acquired hemophilia A patients. Non-classical antibody inhibitors, which block fVIII activation by thrombin and formation of the tenase complex, are the most common anti-C2 domain pathogenic inhibitors in hemophilia A murine models and have been identified in patient plasmas. In this study, we report on the X-ray crystal structure of a B …

The Graph Menagerie: An Exploration Of The Intersection Of Math, Biology, And Art, Maggie Barry

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This project explores interdisciplinarity with a focus on how math and biology can interact with art. My main objective was to create art by graphing the silhouettes of animals. I selected ten animals from a variety of classes and habitats and used a collection of equation types such as linear, quadratic, trigonometric, and circular to draw an outline of each animal. I performed stretches, compressions, and shifts to control the size and position of each equation and set domains and ranges to determine how much of each line was visible on the graph. In the first section of this paper, …

Painting Ecological Change In Pacific Northwest Bird Populations, Rachel Rothberg

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The following four oil paintings are part of an ongoing series that visually explores bird populations and behavior in Northwest Washington, particularly in Bellingham and Whatcom County. I combine biological, detailed illustration with painterly practices to communicate fragile ecological balances to my audience through a medium seen less frequently in the field of conservation. My work examines the tension between life and death in the natural world to provoke conversations about environmental issues and to encourage compassion for local scenery. The work illuminates how birds, humans, and the ecosystems we inhabit are intertwined, inspiring a sense of wonder for our …

Science By Accident: Poems Inspired By Science, Ambert Stover

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

I have had so many biology and other science classes that I automatically think about the world in scientific terms. Once I found a slug while I was building a trail and gleefully announced to my trail-building companion that terrestrial gastropods were hermaphroditic. To me it meant that the slug I had found was simultaneously both male and female. To my friend, however, it was utter gibberish. This is what I call “science by accident.” Not that it’s a bad thing—penicillin was discovered by accident! But I do have to be mindful of who I am talking with and which …